Access IIS server on Win7 VM from within Mac OSX (firefox..)

[Revive]

Hello,
I've read tons of forum posts and other online solutions to this.. and none to seem to work, or I'm missing something.

Here is what I have setup currently:

Mac OS X 10.8.4 running a Virtualbox VM with Win 7, iis express and visual studio, etc.

Here is what I'm trying to accomplish:
I need to be able to access websites on the iis server (in the Win 7 VM) from within the Mac OSX host (using firefox, chrome, etc.)


I have tried:
setting up the networking using just NAT
" " using bridged
" " using 1 bridged adaptor and 1 host-only adaptor

I have tried accessing the VM server using the IP address and the also tried creating a hosts file entry within Win 7 to access the iis express server via that hostname

Nothing has worked.

What I would really appreciate is a step-by-step 'tutorial' of how I need to setup this VM so that:
1) the VM can access the internet (the iis express solution requires a VPN to our companies server)
2) the VM server can be accessed by a browser within the host operating system


Thanks so much!
I've been learning a lot, while reading through all of your contributions on this forum..

[BillG]

The VPN connection to your corporate server is probably the cause of your problems. If the vm has a VPN connection on the bridged NIC, accessing IIS on it from the host through this NIC is unlikely to succeed. NAT is not an option for a VPN connection.

I would think that you best bet was to link the vm to your corporate server through the bridged NIC, but access it from the host through a host only connection. You should be able to connect using the vm's host only IP (eg http://192.168.56.x). Try it first before you make the vpn connection, then see how it goes after you make the link.

[Revive]

Thanks for the reply.. I thought that the VPN was an issue as well.. however, even with iis express running and no VPN connection.. I DO get the no connection error in the browser of the VM, but in a browser within the host - while using the VM IP, etc..
So, doesn't even look like the host is recognizing the connection to the VM..

Again, I have tried bridged connection, NAT alone, Nat + Host-Only.. to no avail.

Any help is greatly appreciated.